The Nature Nurture Project 2022-23 — Andover Trees United

The Nature Nurture Project is a project designed to help local children and young people to connect with nature. It is funded by National Lottery Reaching Communities and HiWCF Flourishing Communities grants, and will allow groups of young people to design their own projects linked to and based at Harmony Woods.

Monday 24th July 2023

This week saw the last Nature Nurture session of 2023, and for Harrow Way School. The two groups joined together this week, to complete an orienteering course. They used compasses to find specific locations within Harmony Woods. Once at those locations they had to find a letter to be able to spell a word. They found out the word was ‘HEDGE’.

After orienteering, they play some environmentally themed games, their favourite being bat and moth, due to being blindfolded. A real strategic game, it was really lovely to see the children working as a team to avoid the bat, as well as using the space within the circle cleverly.

For the last part of the session, the students got to learn how to make their own fires, using tinder and kindling they could find in the wood. Once they got their fires going, it was time to roast some marshmallows!

Monday 10th July 2023

Mother nature had a different plan for today! Due to the wet and windy weather the last Nature Nurture session with the first group of Andover Young Carers had to be held at their bungalow. The young carers have come to the end of their projects they had designed at Harmony Woods therefore they decided to play some games indoors to escape the downpour. A competitive game of air hockey, pool and uno were amongst the variety of games played. Check out the action shots below!

Monday 3rd July 2023

The second group of Andover Young Carers had their final session in the Woods this week. Their last session will be at their bungalow. They decided to play some nature related games, including ‘Bat and Moth’ and ‘Woolly Worms’. They also managed to fix and fly their kite.

Monday 26th June 2023

For their last week, Kids on Track decided to do a pond dip! Their goal was to be able to identify five freshwater invertebrates by the end of the session, which they all completed! To celebrate they ventured to the larger pond to see the newts swimming around.

The Harrow Way group had a really busy session! With the boys finishing their den last week, they decided to do tie-dying this week. They designed and dyed a t-shirt each, ready to be washed at home. The girls made perfume after foraging through the woods to find the scents they liked best! After this the group got together to play hide and seek tag!

Monday 19th June 2023

This week, Kids on Track had their fourth session. They finished building their garden furniture by assembling the last palette sofa. After the construction of their last sofa was complete, they also painted it grey to match the other two. They also added personal flourishes with acrylic paint.

The first group of Andover Young Carers also wanted to spend some time with us at the Bungalow this week. They showed us around, we had a lovely afternoon tea and tried to fly a kite. It was lovely to see them in their own environment and enjoying the sunshine.

Monday 12th June 2023

This week, Kids on Track had their third session. They continued to build their garden furniture by assembling another palette sofa. After the construction of their second sofa was complete, they started to paint them both grey.

The Harrow Way School Group wanted to create some garden furniture as well and continued Den Building! The group making the garden furniture created a sofa out of palettes. The den building team had some disappointing news this week. Unfortunately, due to Harmony Woods being a Community Woodland, their Den they built last time was destroyed by members of the public. However, after feeling a bit disheartened, they did manage to rebuild it and place the signs they created for it in school. They also enjoyed a game of Hide and Seek Tag and helped water the large poplar tree at the entrance of Harmony Woods.

Photos by Jo Oliver-Hawkins and Abbey Sadler

The first group of Andover Young Carers wanted to spend some time with us at the Bungalow this week. They showed us around, played games with us and even a bit of cheerleading! It was lovely to see them in their own environment and enjoying the sunshine.

Monday 5th June 2023

Due to half-term there were no Nature Nurture Sessions this week. Come back next week for more updates!

Monday 29th May 2023

This week was the second session for Kids on Track and they started making their garden furniture out of pallets today. Following instructions and working as a team, the young lads managed to create their first piece, a SOFA! They sanded, glued, nailed and sawed their way to successfully constructing a lovely outdoor sofa.

Photos taken By Jo Oliver-Hawkins and Abbey Sadler

The second group of Andover Young Carers continued their Green Craft sessions with Tie Dying! They used traditional techniques to create exciting patterns on strips of cloth, perfect for wall hangings or a tea towel. They also enjoyed playing a game of hide and seek in the sun.

Monday 22nd May 2023

This week was the first session for Kids on Track and they started with a pond dip! Using our dipping pond, they took several scoops and managed to identify lots of aquatic minibeasts. Their favourites included; bloodworms, leeches and waterlouse. With the help of the ATU team, they checked the large wildlife ponds to identify the newts. We have Smooth Newts! Also known as Common Newts (Lissotriton vulgaris).

The Harrow Way School Group continued their green craft lessons with Tie-Dying and continued Den Building! The group tie-dying did so with canvas bags and fabric dye, they also started painting palettes that they will be using in next week's lesson. The den building team used a tripod knot to create the frame for their Den. After some deliberation, they decided to use a palette for the base to raise it from the ground, and three other palettes for the walls.

Photos taken by Abbey Sadler and Jo Oliver-Hawkins

The first group of Andover Young Carers continued with their Fairy Trail creation! They finished most of their fairy houses, ready to paint and varnish next session. They also enjoyed playing a game of rugby in the sun.

Monday 15th May 2023

This week, the second group made some lovely paintings using wood as a canvas, continuing their green crafts workshops. They painted pictures of what they thought they might find in the woods as well as things that are important to them.

Monday 8th May 2023

This week, the first group continued their fairy trail. They started to design and make their fairy houses using recycled materials, clay, willow and papermache.

We also had the first session for the third group. They are a larger group and are split into two mini groups. One group is learning different Green Crafts, and the other is learning how to build a shelter. This session the Green Crafts they learnt was all about using nature and natural materials to create art work. The other group created a smaller version of their shelter so they could see what would work as a design.

Keep a lookout for more updates!

Monday 1st May 2023

This week saw the beginning of the sessions for the second group, who are learning different Green Crafts. They learnt the ancient craft of willow weaving, and created willow bird feeders to take home with them.

Monday 24th April 2023

The Nature Nurture Project is a new project run by our Nature and Community Officers, Abbey and Jo. It is a project designed to help local children and young people to connect with nature. It is funded by the HiWCF, and will allow groups of young people to design their own project at Harmony Woods.

This week saw the beginning of the sessions for the first group, who are designing a Fairy Garden Trail within Harmony Woods. They have marked out their trail, sown some wildflowers to plant along their trail and started designing some fairy doors.